United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Tax Simplification Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to provide to certain persons who served during the Vietnam era as overseas volunteers a medical examination to determine if such individuals have any adverse health effects as a result of such service due to exposure to phenoxy herbicides or other herbicides. Provides that all individuals eligible for such medical examinations shall also be treated as veterans for purposes of eligibility for veterans' readjustment counseling. Terminates the eligibility for such medical examinations and counseling three years after the enactment of this Act. Requires the President to direct the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a joint report on the question of U.S. Government responsibility for providing such volunteer personnel with health care and compensation for disabilities related to their service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Requires such report to be submitted to the Comptroller General for review and comments before submission to the Congress. Requires such report to be submitted within one year after the enactment of this Act. Directs the Administrator to determine whether women who served during the Vietnam era as overseas volunteer support personnel have experienced long-term adverse health effects (especially gender-specific adverse health effects) from either traumatic experiences during such service or from exposure to phenoxy herbicides or other chemicals during such service. Directs the Administrator, while making such determination, to consider the results of a similar study required under the Veterans' Health-Care Amendments of 1986, and to submit a report on the results of such study to the Congress not later than one year after the first report required under such Act is submitted.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the continued unemployment of more than 8,000,000 Americans is inhumane and is a dilemma that must be treated as a national priority.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require foods to include on their labeling the presence and amount of any palm, palm kernel, or coconut oil along with a statement that such oil(s) is a saturated fat.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require a State's plan to provide for payment for the reservation of a bed in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility for an individual to accommodate the individual's temporary absence (other than for hospitalization) from the facility, if: (1) immediately before the absence the individual is receiving medical assistance under the plan for inpatient services furnished in the facility; (2) the individual's plan of care provides for these absences; and (3) the absences do not total more than 15 days in any 12-month period. Prohibits a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility from participating in Medicaid unless it agrees to provide for such reservation of beds. Sets certain restrictions on payments for unused beds.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Medicare Home Health Services Improvement Act of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit patients to receive Medicare home health services on a daily basis for up to 60 days and longer when the patient's physician certifies that exceptional circumstances require continued daily services. Provides Medicare coverage of up to three weeks of post-hospital skilled nonskilled home health care, as long as the cost of such benefits does not exceed the cost of care in a skilled nursing facility for an equivalent period of time. Defines as "homebound" (as prerequisite of eligibility for Medicare home health services) any person who has a condition which restricts his or her ability to leave the home without support or for whom leaving the home is medically contraindicated. Provides Medicare home health coverage for homebound individuals in need of occupational therapy. (Currently, occupational therapy is included only after an individual qualifies for home health services by reason of needing skilled nursing care or speech or physical therapy.) Requires Medicare fiscal intermediaries which perform home health payment services to provide an explanation of claim denials for home health services and promptly notify the parties requesting a reconsideration of such determinations of the result of such reconsideration. Requires fiscal intermediaries to make partial payments of disputed claims when such notice has not been transmitted within 60 days of receipt of the reconsideration request. Makes an intermediary's performance on appeals of home health care payment determinations part of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' overall appraisal of the intermediary. Requires a Medicare home health agency to: (1) protect and promote the rights of each individual under its care; (2) furnish the State licensing entity with the name and social security number of any individual hired by the agency as well as information as to whether such individual has been convicted of a felony; (3) inform the State licensing entity of changes in agency ownership or control; (4) furnish items and services through licensed health professionals or persons who have completed or are enrolled in a training program which meets minimums standards established by the Secretary by July 1988; and (5) include the patient's plan of care within its clinical records. Requires an appropriate State or local agency to conduct a standard survey every nine to fifteen months and upon a change in the ownership of, or significant number of complaints against, a home health agency, of the quality of patient care provided by such agencies. Subjects home health agencies which perform poorly on such surveys to an extended survey. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the assessment process, report to the Congress on the result of such evaluation, and make appropriate modifications to such process by 1992. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement criteria and procedures for evaluating plans of correction submitted by home health agencies found out of compliance with Medicare participation requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to impose intermediate sanctions on agencies whose failure to correct deficiencies pursuant to approved plans of correction does not immediately jeopardize the health and safety of health care beneficiaries. Requires the Secretary to promulgate major Medicare rules, requirements, or policy statements through the regulatory process. Sets forth publication requirements. Directs the Secretary to publish and make available to the public without change a directory of home health agencies certified to participate in the Medical program, including certain information garnered with respect to each agency during the latest certification survey. Requires appropriate State or local agencies to maintain: (1) toll-free hotlines to receive complaints and answer questions regarding home health agencies in the State or locality; and (2) units with enforcement authority and access to consumer medical records and survey reports to investigate such complaints. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report to the Congress before 1988 on the appropriateness of reimbursing home health agencies on either a rural or urban basis rather than considering an agency's mix of urban and rural clientele; and (2) determine home health agency cost limits on the basis of recent agency cost reports.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
National Advanced Technician Training Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to carry out an advanced technician training program, making matching grants to two-year community and technical colleges to provide training in technical competencies in strategic fields. Requires such program to emphasize on-the-job training and recruitment of the unemployed. Requires that an inventory of available programs be accessible. Requires the Director to appoint a National Advisory Council on Advanced Technician Training to review and report to the Director and to the Congress on the effectiveness of the program, with recommendations as needed. Requires the Director to designate ten centers of excellence among such colleges to serve as clearinghouses, half for advanced technician training and half for undergraduate education in mathematics and science. Requires the Director to make at least 20 grants annually. Requires that funds under this Act be used to strengthen programs in advanced-technology occupations, for faculty development in advanced-technology fields such as laser, robotic, and computer technology, and the development of cooperative training and information networks with other schools and the private sector. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Government Patent Policy Amendments of 1987 - Amends the patent laws to extend to all contractors, assignees, and exclusive licensees under Federal funding agreements the requirement that the manufacture of products using patents arising from federally supported research be significantly performed in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Designates the week beginning August 2, 1987, as International Special Olympics Week and designates August 3, 1987, as International Special Olympics Day.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Steel Rehabilitation and Restructuring Act of 1987 - Limits to specified percentages of the expected apparent domestic supply annual imports of certain carbon and alloy steel articles and specialty steel products. Sets forth a formula for determining the aggregate quantity of such products that may enter the United States in any calendar year after 1986. Requires the Secretary of Commerce, when allocating such limitations among foreign countries, to consider: (1) relevant provisions of voluntary export restraint agreements; (2) findings of unfair trade practices with respect to steel mill products; and (3) such other considerations as appropriate. Requires the Secretary, within 60 days after enactment of this Act, and in each October 1 thereafter, to determine the expected apparent domestic supply for such steel products. Requires the Secretary, on each such date, to determine and publish in the Federal Register the allocation for the next succeeding calendar year of permissible imports of such products by country or area. Requires quarterly revisions of such determinations. Declares that it is a goal of this Act to ensure that the entry of such steel products be equalized, taking into account historical seasonal variations. Sets forth circumstances under which the Secretary may provide additional quantitative restrictions on such products. Requires the Secretary, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to determine whether U.S. steel companies have plans to utilize all of the cash flow from the steel sector for reinvestment in, and the modernization of, the steel sector. Provides that if such determination is negative, the quantitative restrictions on steel imports shall not take effect until the Secretary determines that such companies have plans to reinvest in the steel sector. Requires the Secretary, if there is an affirmative determination with respect to steel company reinvestment, to monitor, for a 12-month period, steel sector investments made by the steel industry. Requires the Secretary, on each anniversary of an affirmative determination, to determine whether steel companies are continuing to utilize substantially all the cash flow from the steel sector for reinvestment. Requires major steel companies to commit for the applicable 12-month period not less than one percent of net cash flow to the retraining of workers, except that such requirement may be waived by the President if unusual economic circumstances exist for such company. Permits the entry of additional tonnage of steel products into the United States in cases where domestic producers are unable to supply domestic demand for such products. Requires the Secretary to monitor the importation of fabricated steel mill products whenever there is reason to believe that such products are being, or are likely to be, imported into the United States in such quantities as to render ineffective the objectives of this Act. Requires the Secretary to advise the President on such matters. Requires the President to request the International Trade Commission (ITC) to initiate an investigation to determine such facts. Authorizes the President, if the ITC makes an affirmative determination, to impose an import surcharge or quantitative limitation on such products in order that entry of such products will not render ineffective the objectives of this Act. Limits the quantity of imported iron ore during any calendar year after enactment of this Act to a specified percentage of the expected apparent domestic supply.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Farmers Home Loan Buy Back Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in administering the sale of specified Farmers Home Administration rural development obligations as provided for under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, to give the issuers the right of first refusal. Sets forth sale price provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Ethanol Motor Fuel Act of 1987 - Mandates that in any calendar year beginning with calendar year 1988, the total quantity of motor fuel sold annually in U.S. commerce by wholesale distributors shall contain, on the average, not less than a specified percentage of ethanol by volume. Sets forth a computation formula for measuring the percentage of ethanol in motor fuel sold by a wholesale distributor. Requires wholesale distributors of motor fuel to report to the Secretary of Energy regarding ethanol sales and credits. Imposes a civil penalty on wholesale distributors for violation of the ethanol-blended fuel requirements. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote ethanol use in motor fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit Rural Electrification Administration borrowers to prepay Federal Financing Bank loans without penalties if: (1) private capital is used to replace such loans; and (2) any savings will be used to avoid future rate increases, passed on to customers, or used to improve the borrower's financial strength.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
United States Peace Tax Fund Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit conscientious objectors to designate their income, estate, or gift tax payments for nonmilitary purposes. Establishes within the Treasury a United States Peace Tax Fund (Fund) to receive such tax payments. Makes these tax designation procedures available to any individual who by reason of religious training and belief is opposed to participation in war in any form and either: (1) has been exempted from combat training and service in the armed forces under the Military Selective Service Act; or (2) satisfactorily demonstrates conscientious objection to war in any form. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to deny such status to a taxpayer upon a finding that the taxpayer is not entitled to make such a designation. Allows a taxpayer to challenge such a denial by bringing an action in the United States Tax Court or in U.S. District Court for a declaratory judgment as to whether the taxpayer is an eligible individual for purposes of such designation. Requires that each publication of general instructions accompanying income tax returns include specified information about the Fund, including the purposes of the Fund and the criteria governing one's eligibility to designate tax payments for such Fund. Requires every taxpayer who makes such a designation for any taxable year to file a questionnaire return during such year for the purpose of determining whether the taxpayer is an eligible individual. Permits the setting aside of criminal or civil penalties imposed upon a taxpayer for nonpayment of tax prior to 1988 if the taxpayer pays the tax due (with interest) and establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that the nonpayment was due to religious beliefs. Directs the Comptroller General to determine the percentage of actual appropriations made by the United States from the Federal budget during the preceding year for military purposes. Requires the publication of such information in the Congressional Record. Establishes a United States Peace Tax Fund Board of Trustees to distribute funds for eligible nonmilitary activities and research. Sets forth the Board's membership structure and its duties. Directs the Board to publish regulations to govern applications for funds. Includes as activities qualified for funding: (1) research directed toward developing nonviolent solutions to international conflict; (2) disarmament efforts; (3) special projects of the United States Institute of Peace; (4) improvement of international health, education, and welfare; and (5) retraining of workers displaced by conversion from military production activities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Hazardous Materials Rail Safety Act - Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations regarding emergency response procedures for rail carriers in accident or emergency situations involving the transportation and storage of hazardous materials. Prescribes the contents of such requirements. Prohibits railroad tank cars built before November 6, 1971, from being used in commercial hazardous materials transportation unless they meet all safety and design requirements imposed by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences for a study of railroad tank car design, and to report the results of such study to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that an adequate level of funding should be authorized for vocational education programs for FY 1988 and that funds should not be rescinded from the 1987 appropriation for basic vocational education grants.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Elderly Victims of Crime Act of 1987 - Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to require States (in order to receive grants from the Crime Victims Fund) to certify that priority will be given to eligible programs which provide assistance to elderly crime victims.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Elder Abuse Information Act of 1987 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) acquire statistical data about the incidence of elder abuse for 1988 and 1989 and publish annual summaries of such data; and (2) modify the uniform crime reporting program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include data, for types of offenses that may involve elder abuse, on the age of the victim and the victim's relationship to the offender.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Congregate Housing Services program should be permanently reauthorized; and (2) FY 1988 and 1989 funding should be set at specified levels.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, to take such actions as are necessary to protect cave resources on Federal lands, including: (1) restricting the use of such resources; (2) entering into volunteer management agreements with the caving community; and (3) appointing advisory committees. Restricts the release of information concerning cave location to protect the resource, requiring the Governor of a State in which a cave resource is located or a bona fide research institution to request location information in writing along with a commitment to protect the confidentiality of such information. Establishes a permit program for the collection or removal of natural resources from caves on Federal lands. Requires a permittee to post a bond or cash deposit to offset potential damage. Revokes permits for violations of this Act or permit conditions. Excludes Federal cave resources within the National Park or Wildlife Refuge Systems from this program. Imposes criminal penalties for the alteration of a cave or interference with cave resources, including the sale or exchange of cave resources removed without permission. Establishes civil penalties for violations of this Act or permit conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Places permit fees and fines in a special fund in the Treasury for cave resource management.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Amends the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974 to reduce from 180 days to 90 days the Secretary of Transportation's aggregate period for taking action upon unfair competitive practices by a foreign air carrier or instrumentality of a foreign government. Cites conditions under which the Secretary is authorized to extend such period for an additional 90 days. Instructs the Secretary, when considering any complaint or in any proceedings under the Secretary's own initiative, to solicit the views of the Department of Commerce and of the United States Trade Representative as well as of the Department of State (as under current law). Directs the Secretary to report to certain congressional committees on actions taken with respect to such complaints.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Amends Federal provisions relating to the National Guard to include positions held by civilian technicians of the National Guard within the competitive service. Provides that service performed by such technicians prior to the effective date of this Act shall be considered competitive service for purposes of eligibility for certain Federal benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to deny the use of funds provided under such Act for projects using products or services of foreign countries which are listed by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as not offering reciprocal opportunities for American firms. Requires the USTR to: (1) determine whether each foreign country denies fair and equitable market opportunities for U.S. products and suppliers in procurement, or fair and equitable market opportunities for United States bidders, for construction projects that cost more than $500,000 and are funded by the government of such foreign country; and (2) maintain and publish annually a list of countries for which an affirmative determination is made. Allows an exception to such a denial of funds if the Secretary of Transportation determines: (1) the denial of funds would not be in the public interest; (2) products of the same class or kind are not produced or offered in the United States or in any foreign country not listed by the USTR in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) exclusion of such product or service from the project would increase the cost of the overall project contract by more than 20 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Social Security Lump-Sum Death Benefits Act of 1987 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to permit the payment of lump-sum death benefits for burial expenses in the case of an insured individual who has no surviving spouse living in the same household at the time of his or her death. (Currently, the payment of lump-sum death benefits in such a case is restricted to a widow or widower entitled to benefits on the basis of the insured's wages and self-employment income or a child so entitled.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Encourages State and local governments and local educational agencies to provide quality daily physical education programs for all children from kindergarten through grade 12.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for an employer to monitor an employee's work phone call unless a repeating audible warning tone is utilized. Allows any person whose call is monitored in violation of this Act to recover civil damages.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
World War I Veterans' Service Pension Act - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly pension of $150 to each veteran of World War I who meets specified service requirements. Requires such veteran, if receiving another pension administered by the Veterans Administration (VA), to elect which pension he will receive. Provides for the payment of a monthly pension of $100 to surviving spouses of World War I veterans who meet certain marriage requirements. Requires such surviving spouses to choose between pensions if they are currently receiving another pension through the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Social Security Transitional Benefit Computation Act of 1987 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to alter the formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and would otherwise be subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Extends the application of such transitional benefit computation rules to those who become eligible for benefits before 1989. (Currently those who become eligible after 1983 are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.)
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Long-Term Care Insurance for the Elderly Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-free distributions from an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity for the purchase of long-term care insurance coverage when: (1) the entire amount received is used to buy such insurance for the individual within 90 days of its receipt; and (2) the individual has reached age 59 and one-half by the date of the distribution. Describes the method, based on the taxpayer's adjusted gross income for the taxable year, for determining the applicable percentage of the distribution or payment amount to which tax-free treatment will be accorded. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to the Congress, within one year after this Act's enactment, a proposal for the regulation of long-term care insurance policies, including minimum standards and an evaluation of the various catastrophic and long-term care policies currently available.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Repeals the limitations enacted by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on individual retirement account (IRA) deductions for active participants in certain pension plans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a nonworking or the lesser-earning spouse filing a joint income tax return to include the spouse's compensation in calculations made to determine the maximum amount permitted as a deduction for qualified retirement contributions (thus permitting such a taxpayer to deduct up to $2,000).
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health Communications Act of 1987 - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct a fiscal intermediary to provide each home health agency it serves a copy of a written notice and communication of a nonwritten notice of any change in Medicare home health policy within seven days of receiving such notice from the Department of Health and Human Services.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health Prompt Reconsideration Act of 1987 - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct a fiscal intermediary to act fully on reconsideration of a payment denial for home health services and give the individual and home health agency involved notice of its findings within 90 days after the reconsideration request is filed. Requires intermediaries to pay interest on the claim for the period during which the reconsideration findings are past due, regardless of whether or not the claim is ultimately paid. Makes such interest penalty inapplicable when the home health agency receives periodic interim payments for its services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Fair Trade Wage Act of 1987 - Title I: Minimum Wage Law Applied Extraterritorially - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to impose minimum wage requirements on U.S. foreign enterprises as defined in the Tariff Act of 1930. Prohibits importing into the United States goods produced by any such employer found in violation of the minimum wage requirements. Title II: Earnings Parity - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose, in addition to any other duty, an earnings parity fee on every article produced by a U.S. foreign enterprise and imported into the United States, in order to equalize the earnings of foreign workers for U.S. foreign enterprises with the earnings of U.S. workers in the same or similar industry and occupational classification. Sets forth the formula for calculating the earnings parity fee. Title III: Trade Adjustment Assistance Trust Fund - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish within the Treasury a Trade Adjustment Assistance Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer to the Trust Fund the amounts collected as earnings parity fees. Requires the Secretary of Labor to hold, and invest part of, the Trust Fund and to report to the Congress annually on the Trust Fund's economic condition. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Neutralization of Tax Effects - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the tax deduction under the accelerated cost recovery system for substitute facilities (business facilities outside the United States which were built or bought within five years of taking out of service similar facilities located within the United States). Prohibits taking depreciation or a foreign tax credit on substitute facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Constitutional Amendment - Provides for the appointment by the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands of electors of the President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which such territories would be entitled if they together were a single State, but in no event more electors than the least populous State appoints.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1987
Minimum Wage Restoration Act of 1987 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for specified annual increases in the minimum wage. Provides, after such increases reach a certain level, for annual indexing of the minimum wage to 50 percent of the average hourly rate in the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Legalization Family Unification Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to waive the continuous residence requirement under the legalization program for parents of U.S. citizen children born after December 31, 1981, and before November 7, 1986.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kolter, Joseph P. [D-PA-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000307_200.jpg)